


Fetch

by The_End_Of_All_Things



Series: Simple Things [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 05:07:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18542884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_End_Of_All_Things/pseuds/The_End_Of_All_Things
Summary: Fetch, the first time.





	Fetch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarryEyedAstronaut](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryEyedAstronaut/gifts).



Klaus' ridiculous and often drug-induced decisions were, quite frankly, something that the world was not ready for. 

Ben could vouch for this after following him into every rash event that he had gracefully stumbled upon.

This had led to many problems throughout the course of Klaus' life (and Ben's death,) problems that could be solved by simply not getting involved.

This always proved to be an impossible task for Klaus. Not getting involved was akin to not breathing. Impulsivity was his middle name. Well, it would have if he had been given a middle name.

And as Diego had said, he wasn't going to allow that shit machine (paraphrasing) into his car.

So this is how he found himself, sitting on that-one-park bench-with-the-depressing-statue-man-feeding-the-statue-pigeons with a perky little dog staring religiously at a butchers shop on the other side of the busy street.

Ben sat on the arm of the bench, staring just as religiously at a bookstore a ways away.

Klaus took one look at each of these things around him and decided he was much too sober for this.

"What am I supposed to do with this thing tagging along everywhere I go?" Both parties turned to Klaus as he slumped down so that his back laid against the seat of the bench and his head sat rather uncomfortably against the back.

"No one asked you to feed the dog half of your disgusting taco, Klaus." Ben chided, turning back to the bookstore.

"I wasn't talking about the dog." Came a grumble that Ben happily ignored.

Having decided that he had enough of the unrestrained longing in his companions' eyes, he stood and made his way down the street.

The others followed after, of course, as Klaus pushed through the masses of people on the busy street.

The wonderfully terrible thing about Klaus was that he was never sure where he was going to end up. One minute he was headed for a rave and the next he'd be following a man who he could swear was a pirate. (When, in actuality, just because a man is wearing an eyepatch does NOT mean that he is a pirate.)

So as Klaus continued to dance his way down the street and the masses continued to warily part around him, not a soul could say for certain where he would end up.

And not a single person would guess that it was a park.

It would be a safe bet to say that had not been his original destination, that he had seen the park and all at once decided that everything else could wait.

Ben, who saw this as unusual behavior, walked through an old lady with a daisy umbrella (even though it was not raining, it might be noted) and came to a hesitant stop next to his brother. "Klaus? What are you doing?"

In lieu of an answer, Klaus pointed to the dog that had plopped down at his feet. "Dog's like... grass, right?" Though he seemed unsure of his own idea.

Ben, every bit as clueless on the matter, gave his most encouraging shrug and they both walked onto the grass.

Klaus found an old and definitely disease ridden (though none of them could really say they cared) tennis ball that most certainly had been left by a fellow dog owner (like himself) as they made their way to an empty clearing.

The grass was wet and made a 'sqwrsht' every time man and canine took a step, and the smell of what was probably supposed to be nature breezed around them.

Once Klaus had deemed a particular patch of grass worthy, he threw the tennis ball as far as he could (which, admittedly, was not very far).

In the few seconds that ball was suspended in the air, Klaus felt the weight on his shoulders shift. It certainly didn't leave entirely, but he could feel that change like nothing he'd ever felt before.

A joyous grin broke out on his face as that little dog tripped over his own feet and crashed face-first into the ground just as he reached the ball.

The dog bounced back up as if nothing had happened, and Klaus looked to Ben to find he had the same awe-struck smile. There was something so simple and so wonderfully normal about it, and they both could sense it.

He stayed there till twilight, throwing and catching, playing and fetching.

That dog stayed with him for months, sleeping next to dumpsters and waiting patiently outside of raves. It made him want to be a better person.

So much, in fact, that he tried to get sober. He would honestly rather live with ghosts than let this little dog starve. And it was working. He thought that, just maybe, he could turn his life around.

He had been doing something so completely mundane, so ordinary, when a car came barreling through the red light and straight at Klaus. In mere seconds of the setting sun someone had yanked him out of the way and the car was gone.

So ordinary, so mundane. And there he was. Standing on a curb, staring into the street where a crumpled, bloody mess had once been this little dog. His little dog. He stayed like that till twilight, staring and staying, crying and praying.

"Klaus." Ben's voice was gentle, as if he was afraid to speak. "You can't stay here forever."

So Klaus moved. He found the nearest dumpster and hid himself away. And when the morning came, and his little dog stared at him with only half his skull, tail wagging, Klaus did what he knew best. He got high as a kite, waiting for all his pain and heartbreak to be lost in his head.

He never spoke of that dog again, and Ben didn't bring it up. He knew that it was one more part of Klaus that had been lost, and he wondered how many pieces could be lost until he fell apart.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all the comments on this series, this is for StarryEyedAstronaut because she said my work was her favorite for these two and that's awesome so here ya go it's not the best but I tried


End file.
